"Visit to a Slave Auction" - New York Tribune

Then I saw with my own eyes - thus had I thrust upon me almost - two of the most detestable and horrible features of the slave system - the sale of beautiful young women to lustful male owners, and the forcible separation of parents from their offspring. These things have been grossly denied by Northern priests and Northern clergy. That they are exceptional I believe to be true; but that they are tolerated in any civilized or Christian community is a sad commentary on the humanity of the age.